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Portable anaesthetic kit, Germany, 1914-1918

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This anaesthetic kit would have been intended for use by the German Army during the First World War. Liquid anaesthetics such as ether or chloroform would be dropped on to the cotton cover from the brown glass bottle and inhaled by the patient before surgery. The bottle has a scale engraved on to the side to keep track of the dosage. Too much chloroform is dangerous but too little does not numb the patient.
The cotton cover is stretched over a folding nickel-plated Schimmelbusch mask. The mask was designed by Curt Schimmelbusch (1860-1895), a German pathologist and surgeon. The kit is kept in a cotton bag labelled "Betäubungsgerät" – which translates from the German as “stunning equipment”.